Orlando Starflyer

When I was in Florida for my Disney Birthday Week, I found time to ride the Orlando Starflyer.

Orlando Starflyer

The Orlando Starflyer is the world’s tallest swings ride at 450 feet tall! It was built in Austria to exacting German standards by a company that operates several rides in Florida and around the world.

Icon Park

The Starflyer is part of a larger shopping, dining, and attraction complex centered around the Icon Orlando, formerly the Orlando Eye. Like the London Eye, it’s Orlando’s oversized Ferris wheel. Most larger cities seem to have one these days for the tourist crowd–Seattle, Chicago, Washington DC, even Pigeon Forge has one.

Other attractions in Icon Park besides the Wheel and the Starflyer include a Madame Tussaud’s wax museum, a “7D” theater, a skeleton museum, and an aquarium. All of this surrounds a plastic turf park smack in front of the Wheel. Attraction tickets can be purchased individually or as a combination ticket. Parking is FREE and plentiful.

Ticketing

I think it’s all terribly overpriced. A ride on the Wheel costs almost $30 for a 25-minute ride in a cabin that holds up to 15 people. A combination ticket for the Wheel, Madame Tussaud’s, and the aquarium costs $50 per person.

Restaurants

There are about 14 restaurants in here too, if you include the pretzel stand and dessert-only spots. Every restaurant is a chain, like Outback, Carrabba’s, and Ben & Jerry’s. There is a Shake Shack here, and since I don’t see too many of them near me, that holds my interest the most.

Tickets for Orlando Starflyer

Tickets for the Orlando Starflyer cost $12.21 at the ticket booth–$10 if bought online beforehand. You can do this even right before you go–I bought mine earlier that morning. Same day re-rides cost $7.51.

The Experience

No loose articles are allowed on the ride and there are free lockers to put your stuff in if you want. There are also buckets around the base of the ride to put less-secure items in (like your shoes.) Each swing is two seats together, and there is a double-belted system once you’re seated–a seat belt goes across your lap and a locked strap between your legs.

Other than the fact that it is 450 feet high, it’s just like any swings ride at any amusement park you’ve ever ridden. It’s pretty gentle and the swings will rotate in and out as you circle near the top. The biggest factor is the wind–it’s really windy once you get going! Enough so that it makes it hard to smile or open your mouth! I even had tears coming out the corners of my eyes by the end–that wind just gets you right in the face.

But it IS fun, and I recommend it if you enjoy heights. Make sure to ride during the day for the view and re-ride again at night for the lights of the city and the ride itself.